CAMPAIGN 2000

Lieberman Could Run for Both Senate and Vice Presidency

Just as Texans Lyndon B. Johnson and Lloyd Bentsen did before him in 1960 and 1988, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut can run for reelection this fall while he runs for vice president on the Democratic ticket.

But if Lieberman stays in both contests and wins both, he complicates Democratic hopes of erasing or reducing the GOP's 54-46 edge in the Senate. Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, a Republican, would fill the subsequent Senate vacancy with a two-year appointment before the next state election. And Rowland presumably would pick a member of his own party.

But Lieberman, a heavy favorite to win a third Senate term, could bow out of that race and let another Democrat run. He also could take his time deciding and factor in the last-minute polls--the deadline for Connecticut Democrats to name a replacement Senate candidate is Oct. 27.